Unloved Unwanted Unstoppable (Seraphina and Dominic) novel Chapter 565

His back was broad and comforting, radiating a solid heat she could feel even through his damp clothing.

The rain cascaded off the edge of the umbrella, but Gideon kept it tilted firmly over her, completely ignoring the fact that half of his own shoulder was getting drenched.

A soft flutter of warmth settled deep in Seraphina's chest.

"Gideon, shift the umbrella back over to your side. Your shirt is soaked."

"It's fine."

Gideon's voice was a low, soothing rumble. "As long as you're dry."

Seraphina looked at his sharp profile, an involuntary smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

She let her head rest gently against his shoulder.

In that fleeting moment, even the biting rain felt remarkably tender.

Not too far behind them, Dominic stood frozen in the mud.

He watched Gideon carry Seraphina through the flooded path, the two of them pressed intimately beneath a single umbrella.

The genuine, radiant smile on Seraphina's face felt like acid in his eyes.

Once upon a time, he had endless opportunities to carry her, to protect her, to be her shelter.

But he had thrown every single one of them away like garbage.

He remembered the times he had callously snatched her umbrella away to give to Cynthia, leaving his own wife stranded and humiliated in the pouring rain.

And now, here was another man, willingly taking the brunt of the storm just so a single drop of water wouldn't touch her.

Dominic looked down at the shallow cut on his chest and let out a broken, self-mocking laugh.

The wound was barely a scratch. It had hardly bled at all. Yet the agony in his chest was so excruciating he could barely draw breath.

He finally understood that Seraphina wasn't incapable of relying on someone.

She just refused to ever rely on him again.

...

On the drive back, Seraphina couldn't stop thinking about the freshly harvested materials.

The samples required precise storage conditions, and a few highly sensitive ones needed immediate lab processing, or the entire experiment would be ruined.

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